In Haiti, the power of konbit honoured along with those lost
18/01/2012 10:37:37 AM
The second anniversary of Haiti’s tragic earthquake is a time to honour those who died and extend compassion to their loved ones.
Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance
“It is the Haitian spirit of
konbit — that Haitian tradition of cooperative community labor and solidarity, in which able bodied neighbours help neighbours prepare growing fields, build and rebuild — that is making the real difference in Haiti. It is a spirit that took a mighty blow, yet another of many blows, but it has risen from the ashes now and it will not fail,” said the Rev. John L. McCullough, Executive Director and CEO of Act for Peace’s partner working in Haiti, Church World Service.
Act for Peace was one of the largest supporters of Church World Service’s work in Haiti following the earthquake.
McCullough said that while it seemed that the world came rushing to Haiti’s rescue after the January 2010 earthquake, there are still more than half a million people in Port au Prince living in tents, in dismal, unsafe camps, and that much of the funding promised by world donors has yet to be provided or spent.
But, he says, “It is also vital and also a tribute to those who were lost for us to note what has been done — not just by donor money, thousands of foreign aid workers and volunteers, but by Haitians themselves — Haitians helping Haitians — because it is in their actions, their participation, their decisions and empowerment that Haiti’s real future lies.”
He also noted that in honouring Haiti’s survivors today, special tribute is due to those who are disabled — the many who were disabled as a result of injuries from the quake and those living with disabilities prior and who had suffered painful discrimination.
Working with local Haitian partners, Church World Service is one of the few NGOs doing permanent house repair in Port au Prince and supports the only program in Haiti focusing on providing permanent housing for people with disabilities.
Housing programs generally, which were slow getting started in Port au Prince and elsewhere in the country, are now advancing at a more encouraging pace. Supporting Haiti’s strategy on decentralization, Church World Service has also focused on improving and expanding housing and providing new housing in rural agricultural cooperative communities in Haiti’s Northwest and Artibonite regions, to welcome and provide better opportunities for families to resettle in areas where food security and self-sufficiency offer new hope.
To find out more about Act for Peace’s response to the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, please click here.
